A technique is discussed for finding the eigenvalues of square matrices of small rank, which is useful for student discovery in a linear algebra class. The eigenvalues of a matrix of rank 1 or 2 can be found by solving a linear or quadratic equation.

A pdf copy of the article can be viewed by clicking below. Since the copy is a faithful reproduction of the actual journal pages, the article may not begin at the top of the first page.

Classroom Capsules would not be possible without the contribution of JSTOR.

JSTOR provides online access to pdf copies of 512 journals, including all three print journals of the Mathematical Association of America: The American Mathematical Monthly, College Mathematics Journal, and Mathematics Magazine. We are grateful for JSTOR's cooperation in providing the pdf pages that we are using for Classroom Capsules.